Celemony Melodyne 5.1

I
n a world where some tracks are
dominated by heavily
‘auto-tuned’ vocals as a creative
genre choice, a music
technology outsider might be
forgiven for thinking that there
is little more to be explored on
this front. The truth is that, whilst
there are valid ways for pushing this
type of tool into robot-like territory,
there are many times when the
intention is for any processing to pass
quietly under the radar. In other
words, to provide plenty of scope for
audio manipulation, but use clever
scientifi c dexterity to make the results
as natural as possible.
Celemony’s Melodyne has been at
the forefront of this for nearly 20
years, and whilst most DAWs now
offer some degree of graphical pitch
editing, with ever increasing degrees
of fl exibility and sophistication,
Melodyne has maintained its position
as a technology leader in this area.
Celemony introduced the ground-
breaking manipulation of polyphonic
material with their DNA technology
back in 2009, and have been
constantly improving this, and their
monophonic tools. However, one
stumbling block for many was that
moving audio between your DAW and
Melodyne was not as fl uid as
employing similar (albeit less
sophisticated) tools built into Cubase,
Logic etc. Luckily, thanks to the
increasing adoption and
sophistication of ARA (Audio Random
Access), and Celemony’s role in its
Melodyne isn’t just about vocals
however, and the Chord Track and
Grid help with any type of material.
You will also fi nd the new ‘Percussive
Pitched’ algorithm, DAW-oriented
keyboard shortcuts and other smaller
tweaks. Melodyne 5 Studio offers the
full panoply of multitrack polyphonic
editing options, but, if you mainly
work with monophonic material, the
more affordable Melodyne 5 Assistant
still delivers many of the essential
new features. This a strong update to
a great piece of software.
development, this barrier barely
exists. I tested Melodyne 5.1 with
Cubase 11, and the integration is
exceptional. Comping of audio takes,
moving of audio events and many
other actions are updated and
replicated so well between the DAW
and Melodyne edit windows, as to
make it appear part of the DAW itself.
This upshift in the integration
stakes is all the more important, as
Melodyne 5 has added some new
features that make it a candidate for
remaining the ‘go-to’ tool for
correcting and manipulating audio
pitch, timing and levels. The headline
feature in Melodyne 5, is the new
‘Melodic’ algorithm, which now allows
you to edit pitched and noise-based
components (such as sibilants)
separately – including the way in
which they are moved when altering
the timing of pitched notes. The
software now also makes a better job
of analysing pitch deviations within a
note and adds note-based fades.
Combine this with the new Levelling
Macro (for quick balancing between
quiet and loud elements) and you
have the perfect vocal fi nessing tool.
THE PROS & CONS
+
Improved ‘Melodic’
algorithm adds the
ability to edit pitch
and noise separately
Integration with ARA
is excellent, and now
makes Melodyne feel
like part of your DAW
New tools – Sibilant
Tool is especially
useful, allowing
per-note adjustment
of volume ratio
between pitched and
un-pitched vocal
sounds
-
Polyphonic DNA and
multitrack modes not
available in all
versions (only Editor
and Studio)
Although there are
many macro
features, it still takes
some user
interaction to get the
best out of Melodyne
(though arguably,
creative choice
should always be
part of the music
making process!)
FM VERDICT
9.8
Melodyne 5 is powerful
in all its versions, and
remains an exceptional tool
for manipulating audio in
functional and creative ways
I tested Melodyne 5.1
with Cubase 11, and the
integration is exceptional
Celemony Melodyne 5.1 | Reviews
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FMU366.rev_melodyne.indd 89 17/12/2020 14:07